Named after much-loved nature writer Alfred Wainwright, the aim of the Prize is to inspire everyone to connect with nature and embrace the outdoors. This year’s longlisted books reflect the astonishing range and depth of nature writing, with titles that confront difficult, yet vitally important issues around climate change and food supplies, celebrate the wonder of life in our back gardens, and illuminate the healing power of nature. As established authors vie with exciting up-and-coming writers in the genre, independent publishers dominate, with fourteen represented across the three longlists.

In the inaugural year for the Children’s Nature and Conservation Prize, the longlisted fiction and non-fiction titles range from a guide to the extraordinary contribution bugs make to our planet written by the Natural History Museum’s senior entomologist, to novels that variously place us in the shoes of an isolated girl living off-grid, a teenage climate change activist, and a bird-watching detective.

Award-winning teenage naturalist, Dara McAnulty, the winner of the 2020 Nature Writing Prize, is longlisted for the Children’s Prize for his multi-sensory guide to exploring the nature on your doorstep while Katya Balen is nominated for her 2022 Yoto Carnegie Award winner, October, October.